Alexander sat on a cold metal bench in the corner of a public park watching the dead leaves drift across the concrete while trying to decide if he should actually go back to his aunt and uncle’s house.

He hadn’t been there since last night and a dark part of him wondered if they were even worried or if his absence didn’t matter at all.

More than that his chest tightened every time he thought about Helen, he still couldn’t completely wrap his head around what he had done with his aunt since the memory felt heavy and almost dangerous "There’s nothing else to do so I have to go face my destiny" said Alexander.

He stood up but didn’t call an expensive ride and instead walked straight to the corner to wait for the public bus while holding a few coins in his palm because he was still wired to save every single cent.

The bus arrived with a loud hiss of its brakes smelling of old vinyl and diesel so Alexander climbed the steps to pay the driver and walked toward the back grabbing a leather strap to stay upright as the vehicle lurched forward.

A few stops later a crowd of students from a nearby high school piled into the narrow aisle.

Among them was a young girl carrying a heavy backpack trying to find a spot to stand near the rear exit while a man in a dirty jacket slid in right behind her using the crowd as an excuse to press too close.

Alexander watched from the corner of his eye as the man reached down and his fingers caught the hem of the girl’s skirt to lift it up making the girl freeze with a face turning completely pale as she tried to pull away in the cramped space.

Alexander didn’t think that a year ago he would have looked down at his shoes terrified of confrontation but his mind didn’t access the old Alexander since it accessed the characters he had been playing all day.

He stepped into the role of a protector who was hard and fearless so he shoved his way through the students to grab the man by the collar of his jacket and slammed him hard against the metal handrail "Get your hands off her before I break them" said Alexander.

His voice didn’t shake, it was a low commanding growl that echoed over the roar of the engine.

The man looked at Alexander’s height and the cold fury in his eyes so he raised his hands to back down instantly "Alright alright man chill, it was an accident!" said the man.

"Get off at the next stop" said Alexander.

The man didn’t argue and as soon as the bus slowed down he scrambled out the folding doors into the street.

The girl looked up at Alexander with a chest heaving as she let out a long breath of relief "Thank you so much" said the girl.

"Are you okay?" said Alexander.

"Yes I’m fine now so thank you" said the girl.

She stepped off the bus a moment later giving him one last grateful nod from the sidewalk while Alexander stood by the exit with knuckles still white around the handrail.

His heart was hammering but it wasn’t from fear since it was from shock, he had never been a fighter but by stepping into a character he had been capable of doing something completely outside his nature.

Alexander stepped off the bus at his stop and began the long walk toward his aunt and uncle’s house with heavy steps because a part of him truly didn’t want to arrive.

The evening air was turning colder and the streets were quiet until the sudden sound of heavy boots echoed from a dark corner behind him.

He turned around and spotted the same man from the bus but this time he wasn’t alone since he was accompanied by two massive drunks who were holding broken glass bottles "Hey look it’s the little hero from the bus so Let’s see if you can talk big now, pretty boy" shouted the man.

Before Alexander could even drop his bag the first drunk lunged forward swinging a wild heavy fist that caught him hard across the jaw making his vision swim as he stumbled back against a brick wall.

A sharp kick landed against his ribs causing a burning pain that threatened to knock the wind out of him but his mind didn’t panic, he immediately accessed his training to control the narrative.

He locked himself into a new script where he was the protagonist in a climax who couldn’t lose so his eyes turned bloodshot and wild with pure adrenaline as he became a beast.

The second drunk threw a massive right hook but remembering the rhythm of a fighter Alexander snapped his head back letting the fist graze his chin by a fraction of an inch as he danced on his toes to create space just like Muhammad Ali in the ring "Is that all you got?" said Alexander while letting out a bloody mocking hiss.

The guy from the bus charged him like a bull but Alexander anticipated the trajectory and ducked low letting the man’s momentum carry him forward before delivering a brutal uppercut straight into his solar plexus making the man gasp and collapse onto the asphalt "You motherfucker!" yelled the first drunk while rushing in with a frantic flurry of punches.

Alexander kept his guard up as his forearms absorbed the heavy clumsy blows while tracking the rhythm of the drunk’s sloppy movements until the moment the man overextended on a left jab.

Alexander slipped to the right to duck under the arm and pivoted on his back foot channeling all his weight into a devastating counter-hook right into the man’s jaw that made him crash face-first onto the curb out cold.

The last man standing backed away as the alcohol suddenly cleared from his brain when he looked at the bloodshot predatory stare of the kid in front of him.

Alexander didn’t give him a chance to run and closed the distance with a lightning-fast shuffle to weave his head from side to side before throwing a sharp blinding jab to the man’s nose followed instantly by a powerful straight right that connected directly with his temple making the big man’s knees buckle.

Alexander stood over them with a chest heaving and knuckles split and bleeding as he wiped a streak of blood from his own lip and looked down at the three groaning men.

His body was aching and his ribs felt like they were on fire but a dark manic thrill washed over him.

He had fought like a wild animal and won entirely, he chose to believe he couldn’t fail.

He picked up his bag from the dirt to throw it over his shoulder and turned back toward his street because the fear of going home was gone replaced by a dangerous confidence that proved the stage was bleeding into his reality.